Optical module and vehicle

ABSTRACT

An optical module and a vehicle is provided. The optical module is for corresponding to an optical component, and the optical module includes a panel, and a foreign object removal assembly. The foreign object removal assembly removes a foreign object that is attached to the panel in a physical way. The vehicle includes the optical module.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/266,034, filed Dec. 27, 2021, the entirety of which is incorporatedby reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to an optical module and a vehicle, andmore specifically, the present disclosure relates to an optical moduleand a vehicle that may be used to remove foreign object.

Description of the Related Art

There may be foreign objects on the panel of an optical module, whichresulting in poor imaging of optical components (such as lenses) in theoptical module. Especially, the optical module on the vehicle is likelyto have foreign object accumulated on the panel of the optical module,which makes it impossible for the user to activate the optical modulequickly.

Therefore, there is a need for an optical module capable of removingforeign objects on the panel.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the problems of the prior art, an optical module is provided.The optical module is for corresponding to an optical component, and theoptical module includes a panel, and a foreign object removal assembly.The foreign object removal assembly removes a foreign object that isattached to the panel in a physical way.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the foreign objectremoval assembly includes a vibration module. The vibration module is incontact with the panel, so that the panel vibrates.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the vibrationmodule includes a piezoelectric element.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the foreign objectremoval assembly includes a lever, and the lever across and in contactwith the panel. The lever moves relative to the panel.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the lever movesrelative to the panel along a direction that is parallel to the width ofthe lever.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the width of thelever is less than 1 mm, and an aperture of the optical component isgreater than 5.6.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the optical modulefurther includes an insulating adhesive. The two ends of the lever arefixed to a shape memory alloy wire via the insulating adhesive.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the extension orcontraction of the shape memory alloy wire is controlled by an electriccurrent, and then the lever is driven to move horizontally relative tothe panel.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the lever includesa metal.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there are aplurality of levers.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the foreign objectremoval assembly includes a temperature control component. Thetemperature control element is in contact with the panel, and thetemperature control element increases the temperature of the panel.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the optical modulefurther includes a circuit assembly, electrically connected to theforeign object removal assembly,

wherein the temperature control component is arranged in the circuitassembly.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the optical modulefurther includes a thermally conductive adhesive, connecting the circuitassembly to the panel. A thermal conductivity of the thermallyconductive adhesive is greater than 0.5 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the temperaturecontrol component includes a shape memory alloy.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the temperaturecontrol component is located at an outside of the panel.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a light passingthrough the panel and entering the optical component. The temperaturecontrol component does not block the light.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an inner space ofthe optical module is isolated from an outside.

In one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the foreign objectremoval assembly includes a vibration module, a lever, and a temperaturecontrol component, wherein the lever is located above the vibrationmodule and the temperature control component, and the vibration moduleextends below the temperature control assembly.

To solve the problems of the prior art, a vehicle is provided, includinga front windshield, and the optical module. The optical module isarranged on the front windshield and located inside the vehicle.

To solve the problems of the prior art, a vehicle is provided, includinga bumper, and, and the optical module. The optical module is arranged onthe bumper and located outside the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be more fully understood by reading thesubsequent detailed description and examples with references made to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical module according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the optical module according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the optical module along line A-A ofFIG. 1 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the optical module according to some embodimentsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the optical module along line B-B inFIG. 1 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a vehicle according to some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a vehicle according to some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The making and using of embodiments of the present disclosure arediscussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that theembodiments provide many applicable inventive concepts that may beembodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to makeand use the embodiments and do not limit the scope of the disclosure.

It should be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second” etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, layers and/or portions,and these elements, layers, and/or portions should not be limited bythese terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element,layer, or portion. Thus, a first element, layer or portion discussedbelow could be termed a second element, layer or portion withoutdeparting from the teachings of some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In addition, for the sake of brevity, terms such as “first”and “second” may not be used in the description to distinguish differentelements. As long as it does not depart from the scope defined by theappended claims, the first element and/or the second element describedin the appended claims can be interpreted as any element that meets thedescription in the specification.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this disclosure belongs. It should be appreciated thateach term, which is defined in a commonly used dictionary, should beinterpreted as having a meaning conforming to the relative skills andthe background or the context of the present disclosure, and should notbe interpreted in an idealized or overly formal manner unless definedotherwise.

The scale of the drawings in the present disclosure may be drawnaccording to the actual size. The scale of the same figure in thepresent disclosure can be used as the actual manufacturing scale of thedevices, equipment, elements, etc. of the present disclosure. It shouldbe noted that each figure may be drawn at different orientations, whichmay result in different size ratios among different figures. However,the size ratio shown in an individual figure is not affect by thedifferent size ratios between different figures. People with ordinaryskill in the art can understand that the size ratio of the figures inthe present disclosure can be used as a distinguishing feature from theprior art.

Firstly, please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of an optical module 100 according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the optical module 100according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the optical module 100 may include anouter frame 10, a base 20, a panel 30, a foreign object removal assembly40, a circuit assembly 50, a thermally conductive adhesive 60, and aninsulating adhesive 70.

The outer frame 10 may be combined with the base 20 to form an innerspace. The inner space may accommodate other components of the opticalmodule 100, and an optical component (not shown) corresponds to theoptical module 100.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the opticalcomponent may be a camera module, a lens, etc., for capturing andrecording images.

The panel 30 may be disposed on the outer frame 10, and the outer frame10, the base 20 and the panel 30 may jointly enclose the inner space.According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the inner spacemay not communicate with the outside of the optical module 100.

That is, the inner space of the optical module is isolated from theoutside, and the inner space may be in a vacuum state. In this way,foreign objects such as frost, fog, and water may be avoided from theinternal space of the optical module.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the panel 30may be a light-transmitting element. For example, the panel 30 may beglass, an acrylic plate, or the like. Therefore, the light may passthrough the panel 30 to the inner space, and the light may enter anoptical assembly (not shown) for imaging.

The foreign object removal assembly 40 may remove a foreign object thatis attached to the panel 30 in a physical way. According to someembodiments of the present disclosure, the physical way may bevibration, scraping, contact, heating and melting, and the like.According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the foreignobject may be frost, snow, fog, water, and the like.

The foreign object removal assembly 40 may cover, absorb, reflect, orrefract light, so that the optical components receives poor images.Therefore, after the foreign object that is attached to the panel 30 isremoved by the foreign object removal assembly 40, the image received bythe optical component may be improved.

The circuit assembly 50 may be electrically connected to the foreignobject removal assembly 40 to supply an external current to the foreignobject removal assembly 40.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the opticalmodule 100 along line A-A of FIG. 1 , according to some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the foreign object removal assembly 40 may includea vibration module 41. The vibration module 41 may be in contact withthe panel 30 so that when the vibration module 41 vibrates, the panel 30also vibrates along with the vibration module 41. Therefore, the foreignobject that is attached to the panel 30 will fall from the panel 30 dueto the vibration of the panel 30.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The vibrationmodule 41 may include a piezoelectric element. For example, thevibration module 41 may include a Smooth Impact Driving mechanism Piezo(SIDM Piezo), or a Bimorph Piezo.

Therefore, the vibration module 41 may generate ultrasonic vibrations toeffectively make the foreign object that is attached to the panel 30fall from the panel 30.

It should be noted that the vibration module 41 is also electricallyconnected to the circuit assembly 50 to receive a current to generatevibration.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 is a top view of the optical module 100according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the foreign object removal assembly 40 may includea lever 42, the lever 42 is disposed on the surface of the panel 30 andit may across and be in contact with the panel 30. The lever 42 may havean elongated shape. For example, the length 42L of the lever 42 may bemuch greater than the width 42W of the lever 42. According to someembodiments of the present disclosure, the width 42W of the lever 42 maybe less than 1 mm.

The lever 42 may include metal, and both ends of the lever 42 may befixed to a plurality of shape memory alloy wires 42M via insulatingadhesive 70. It should be noted that although the present disclosureonly shows that the two ends of the lever 42 are fixed to the shapememory alloy wires 42M, in fact, the middle section of the lever 42 mayalso be fixed to the shape memory alloy wire 42M via the insulatingadhesive 70, so as to increase driving force.

The length of the shape memory alloy wire 42M may be controlled toextended or contracted after the current is applied, and the extensionor contraction of each of the plurality of shape memory alloy wires 42Mmay be controlled by the current, respectively, and then the lever 42 isdriven to move horizontally relative to the surface of the panel 30 suchas translate or rotate. It should be noted that the lever 42 may moverelative to the panel 30 along a direction that is parallel to the width42W of the lever 42. Therefore, the lever 42 may scrape off the foreignobject that is attached to the panel 30.

It should be noted that although FIG. 4 only shows one lever 42,according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure, theforeign object removal assembly 40 may include a plurality of levers 42.In this way, the moving distance of each lever 42 may be reduced, and itmay increase the efficiency in scraping off the foreign object that isattached to the panel 30 by the lever 42 to.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, an aperture(f-number) of the optical component that is accommodated in the innerspace may be greater than 5.6.

Please refer to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the opticalmodule 100 along line B-B in FIG. 1 , according to some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the foreign object removal assembly 40 may includea temperature control assembly 43, and the temperature control assembly43 may be in contact with the panel 30, such that the temperaturecontrol assembly 43 may increase the temperature of the panel 30.

The temperature control component 43 may be disposed in the circuitassembly 50, and the temperature control component 43 may be connectedto the panel 30 via a thermally conductive adhesive 60. According tosome embodiments of the present disclosure, the thermal conductivity ofthe thermally conductive adhesive 60 may be greater than 0.5 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹,so as to effectively transfer the heat by the temperature controlcomponent 43 to the panel 30.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the temperaturecontrol component 43 may include a shape memory alloy, so as to generateheat energy when receiving current from the circuit assembly 50.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5 , the temperature control component 43 maybe disposed in the inner space of the optical module 100. Thetemperature control component 43 may be disposed around the panel 30, sothe temperature control component 43 may not block the light, so thatthe optical component is avoided from receiving poor images.

However, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the temperaturecontrol component 43 may be disposed outside the optical module 100. Forexample, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the temperaturecontrol component 43 may be disposed outside the panel 30.

In this way, when the temperature control component 43 receives theelectric current from the circuit assembly 50, the temperature controlcomponent 43 may also extend or contract, thereby scraping off theforeign object attached to the panel 30 at the same time.

It should be noted that although the vibration module 41, the lever 42,and the temperature control assembly 43 are described separately, theforeign object removal assembly 40 may simultaneously include one ormore of the vibration module 41, the lever 42, and the temperaturecontrol assembly 43.

That is, the foreign object removal assembly 40 may include at least oneof a vibration module 41, a lever 42, and a temperature control assembly43 to improve the efficiency of removing foreign objects on the panel30.

Please return to FIG. 3 , the foreign object removal assembly 40 mayinclude all of the vibration module 41, the lever 42, and thetemperature control assembly 43. Moreover, along the Z axis, the lever42 may be located above the vibration module 41 and the temperaturecontrol assembly 43 (+Z direction). The vibration module 41 may extendbelow the bottom of the temperature control component 43 (-Z direction).

Please refer to FIG. 6 , FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a vehicle 200according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 6 , the vehicle 200 may include a front windshield 210 and anoptical module 100.

The optical module 100 may be disposed on the front windshield 210, andthe optical module 100 may be located in the interior of the vehicle200. In this way, when there is a foreign object on the front windshield210 of the vehicle, the optical module 100 may remove the foreign objectin front of the optical module 100 so that the optical module 100 mayreceive a good light.

Please refer to FIG. 7 , FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a vehicle 300according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 7 , the vehicle 300 may include a bumper 310 and an optical module100.

The optical module 100 may be disposed on the bumper 310, and theoptical module 100 may be located outside the vehicle 300. In this way,when there is a foreign object on the bumper 310 of the vehicle, theoptical module 100 may remove the foreign object in front of the opticalmodule 100, so that the optical module 100 may receive a good light.

It should be noted that vehicle 200 or vehicle 300 is only an example.In fact, the optical module 100 may be arranged in other positions ofthe vehicle 200 or the vehicle 300. Also, the vehicle 200 or the vehicle300 may include a plurality of optical modules 100.

In general, the optical module 100 of the embodiment of the presentdisclosure may remove the foreign object that is on the panel 30 by theforeign object removal assembly 40, so that the image received by theoptical component is better.

Although embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages havebeen described in detail, it should be understood that various changes,substitutions and alterations may be made herein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims. For example, it will be readily understood by those skilled inthe art that many of the features, functions, processes, and materialsdescribed herein may be varied while remaining within the scope of thepresent disclosure. Moreover, the scope of the present application isnot intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process,machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and stepsdescribed in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate from the disclosure of the present disclosure,processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means,methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, thatperform substantially the same function or achieve substantially thesame result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may beutilized according to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the appendedclaims are intended to include within their scope such processes,machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the scopeof the appended claims. In addition, each scope of the claims isconstructed as a separate embodiment, and various combinations of theclaims and combinations of embodiments are within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An optical module, for corresponding to anoptical component, and the optical module comprising: a panel; and aforeign object removal assembly, removing a foreign object that isattached to the panel in a physical way.
 2. The optical module asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the foreign object removal assemblycomprises a vibration module, wherein the vibration module is in contactwith the panel, so that the panel vibrates.
 3. The optical module asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the vibration module comprises apiezoelectric element.
 4. The optical module as claimed in claim 1,wherein the foreign object removal assembly comprises a lever, and thelever across and in contact with the panel, wherein the lever movesrelative to the panel.
 5. The optical module as claimed in claim 4,wherein the lever moves relative to the panel along a direction that isparallel to the width of the lever.
 6. The optical module as claimed inclaim 4, wherein the width of the lever is less than 1 mm, and anaperture of the optical component is greater than 5.6.
 7. The opticalmodule as claimed in claim 4, further comprising an insulating adhesive,wherein the two ends of the lever are fixed to a shape memory alloy wirevia the insulating adhesive.
 8. The optical module as claimed in claim7, wherein the extension or contraction of the shape memory alloy wireis controlled by an electric current, and then the lever is driven tomove horizontally relative to the panel.
 9. The optical module asclaimed in claim 7, wherein the lever comprises a metal.
 10. The opticalmodule as in claim 4, wherein there are a plurality of levers.
 11. Theoptical module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foreign object removalassembly comprises a temperature control component, wherein thetemperature control element is in contact with the panel, and thetemperature control element increases the temperature of the panel. 12.The optical module as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a circuitassembly, electrically connected to the foreign object removal assembly,wherein the temperature control component is arranged in the circuitassembly.
 13. The optical module as claimed in claim 12, furthercomprising a thermally conductive adhesive, connecting the circuitassembly to the panel, wherein a thermal conductivity of the thermallyconductive adhesive is greater than 0.5 W·m-1·K-1.
 14. The opticalmodule as claimed in claim 11, wherein the temperature control componentcomprises a shape memory alloy.
 15. The optical module as claimed inclaim 14, wherein the temperature control component is located at anoutside of the panel.
 16. The optical module as claimed in claim 11,wherein a light passing through the panel and entering the opticalcomponent, wherein the temperature control component does not block thelight.
 17. The optical module as claimed in claim 1, wherein an innerspace of the optical module is isolated from an outside.
 18. The opticalmodule as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foreign object removalassembly comprises a vibration module, a lever, and a temperaturecontrol component, wherein the lever is located above the vibrationmodule and the temperature control component, and the vibration moduleextends below the temperature control assembly.
 19. A vehiclecomprising: a front windshield; and the optical module as claimed inclaim 1, arranged on the front windshield and located inside thevehicle.
 20. A vehicle comprising: a bumper; and the optical module asclaimed in claim 1, arranged on the bumper and located outside thevehicle.